Psycho-Pass – 02
I am willing to live in a corrupt city just to be able to do this
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It feels like I just wrote about episode 1 only a short while ago. This feeling is most likely due to the fact that…yes…it has been only a couple of days since my last Psycho-Pass post. At least this means I’m catching up. This is not a series I want to fall behind in, especially since I feel like each episode brings up a wealth of topics to write about and discuss. Last week focused on dealing with latent criminals while this week gives more attention to privileged citizens like Tsunemori. |
Tsunemori stuck to her gut instinct and shot Shinya in order to save a troubled girl from dying without being given a chance. This sounds like a great approach, but it’s not the norm in this particular society, so she gets a lot of unwanted attention and criticism for her actions. Despite this, she wakes up the next day to a “powder blue” Hue check that corresponds to a really stable affect. She even tells her friends that the whole debacle had her up all night worrying. This may be a sign that the system can be good at discerning between temporary states (such as just feeling sad one day) and more serious deviations from neutral moods that appear like more permanent changes to the person. It’s still not perfect since the kidnapped girl from last week was crazy enough to turn the Dominator to lethal mode, but at least there is a difference between passing moods and permanent changes. Tsunemori seems particularly resistant to being changed by her surroundings, and maintains her own ideals of treating everyone equally no matter what their Psycho-Pass rating is. Everyone deserves a chance.
She’s an exception to the rule. The only other person who displays a similar set of morals is, surprisingly, Shinya. His admission to just blindly following orders and ignoring what he thought was right took me completely off-guard. I thought he’d be the one resisting Tsunemori’s goody-two-shoes act, but it looks like he’s right there along with her. His only issue seems to be a past grudge that probably haunts him and keeps his Psycho-Pass rating in the danger zone. That might come back to bite him (and Tsunemori) in the ass later. It turns out that Shinya is with Tsunemori but Tomomi Masaoka is more against her. He just wants to take down targets and move along, and has no intention of squabbling over what’s right, wrong, or what this poor little police girl can do to be more than just a chaperone. It’ll be interesting to see how their morals clash when Shinya gets better and hopefully continues to agree with Tsunemori’s ethical decisions.
Part of why Shinya is so moved by her is that she’s so kind to him. Almost everyone comments on how nice she is to latent criminals in an almost amused way, like when someone talks to an inanimate object or something. It’s just not done. Most people treat latent criminals like actual criminals, after all. They’re locked up all day, require constant monitoring, and are allowed to be shot with very strong paralyzing shots. Shinya was out for over a day from that thing! This isn’t like a tiny, tranquilizer dart! It’s rather impressive that she grew up in a society based on separating people by their affinities, and still filed a report at the end saying that she was doing the right thing. We learn a bit more about how this society works this week, and it’s very big on two interesting issues: the objectification of mental health and decline of free will.
Instead of comparing cup sizes, let’s compare how likely we are to go on a crime spree! Teehee!
Upon meeting up with her friends, Tsunemori complains about her job and the stress that accompanies it. Her friends are jealous that she’s stressed, yet still is in tip-top condition according to the Hue Check she receives in the morning. They go so far as to call her a “mental health beauty.” Most people compliment people on their hair, clothes, or other physical traits that are easy to discern upon first glance. Mental states have become more of a shared fact, so that people can actually say “my, aren’t you looking sane today!” as a replacement for “oohh, what a cute bag!”. Can you imagine talking about your Hue Check with your friends and quantitatively comparing how you’re doing? Would you even want to reveal something like that?
It’s not usually the sort of thing that’s talked about so openly in our society since it’s not a concrete entity. Our mental states are constantly shifting, and impossible to describe. In the Psycho-Pass world, we have a number and colour to describe mental states, and it can be evaluated like you’d grade a paper. A subjective quality has now become objective. That’s just how advanced the technology is – that it has created another category for judging people and forming opinions. We already hold people with good mental health in high regard in real life, but the Psycho-Pass system makes it easier to make that distinction…which has now led to the almost persecutory behaviour towards those who are mentally unstable.
We learn some more nifty facts about the job-sorting system during Tsunemori’s meet-up with her friends and an unexpected encounter with Shuusei Kagari. The system erases bias from race, gender or socioeconomic status and assigns jobs based on how good someone is expected to perform in that position. This is only possible with advanced aptitude tests and complicated scans that could only appear in a futuristic setting like this. These tests rank people based on what type of work they’d do the best in, and that essentially decides what line of work you’ll be in for the rest of your life. It eliminates most of your choice in the matter, but maximizes efficiency. Only people who are caring, meticulous and intelligent will be doctors and only those who are persuasive and good at public speaking will become lawyers. There will be no mismatches, as long as the tests accurately reflect potential…and it seems like they do.
The downside here is that the feeling of having any agency in picking a job that you feel particularly calls out to you is gone. Wanna be a rockstar? Tough tits, you got an A in janitorial work so pick up that mop and get cracking, loser. Unless you do well in numerous sectors (like Tsunemori) then you’re basically just assigned a job that will benefit society the most without any discussion. Tsunemori’s friends don’t seem all too dazzled with the jobs that were chosen for them, so aptitude may not necessarily equal happiness. I get the feeling that Tsunemori is a rare case. Not a lot of people probably do well enough to be able to actually sit down and think about what they want to do for their career. The system is so mechanical and calculating, that choosing the one job that no one else was suited for made her feel special. The system eliminates any feelings of freely choosing a job at will, which may cause people to feel caged in by the job chosen for them since they were ordered to do it.
The funny thing is that she complains about her choices. She got to pick from any job she wanted, but she still feels like it might have been a bad choice, and laments having so many options available. She goes on about all this to Kagari as if she were still talking to her two friends. Kagari is not like her friends, and most certainly not like Tsunemori herself. He was flagged at the age of 5 and detained ever since. There’s apparently a cut-off number for treatment for people who are too far gone to even think about trying to help with therapy. How someone could be too far gone at the tender age of 5 when the mind is still incredibly malleable is beyond me, but that was their decision. Kagari never had a choice about where to work or what to do or even when he got to leave the goddamned building. He spent his entire life being labelled as an unfixable problem suited only for dirty work, and yet here Tsunemori is complaining that…she had too many wonderful choices? Oh poor you, with a magical wardrobe and a talking jellyfish that probably wipes your ass if you’re too tired! How terrible! Kagari really puts things in perspective for her, and by the end I’d say she feels pretty comfortable with her job choice.
“This is my report” “Uhh, this is just a file that says ‘U MAD?'”
Back to Kagari, I’m still reeling a bit from the shock that he was condemned at the age of 5. How do you..do that? How do you just decide someone is so bad that they shouldn’t ever be let out of your sight? From what I understand, he never did anything bad yet, and hasn’t for all of these years. Was keeping him locked up all this time really worth it, or has it fostered a deeper hatred for the other, more privileged civilians in his mind? I think judging people on the probability they’re going to do something is being taken way too far. HE WAS JUST A KID! He was probably picking his nose and watching Pokemon when the authorities just busted in and whisked him away! Not. Cool.
As frighteningly ominous and all-knowing as the system is…the future does come with some undeniably positive technological perks I’m also pretty tickled pink by. Magical wardrobes? Houses that can change their decoration? Invisibility cloaks? Worth it. I now see absolutely nothing wrong with this system. Nope. Nothing.
Bonus Casualty Report: Show ▼
I’m still a big fan of Psycho-Pass (or “The Magic Gun” as my mom calls it). <3 The world-renowned “3 episode test” exists partially because it’s a common occurrence that an anime will have a good first episode and then slowly decline into mediocrity. Psycho-Pass is still going strong and carrying on a lot of momentum from last week, tying up loose ends with a casualty report of the mission and reconcilement with Shinya. That first episode wasn’t just a one-off, but it’s set the tone for the rest of the series. Tsunemori isn’t going to back down from her position, and she will dig her heels in if she feels she’s being pushed in the wrong direction. Shinya’s already caught on to her infectious ideals! I love how things are going so far with Tsunemori’s interactions, but I will admit that most of the characters remain a bit on the dull side. The new doctor (who potentially had some hot, lesbian loving going on before Tsunemori walked in) is probably the most interesting one of the bunch.
The main draw in undeniably the world they’ve created that revolves around predicting future outcomes and limiting the feeling of free will in order to maximize results. Likely to be a criminal? You’ll either be shipped off for therapy or deemed an irreconcilable mess fit only for dirty work no one else wants to do. In a way, the system makes sense…but there are so many shortcomings that it really is just waiting to fall apart. Next week should go by faster so I can see it sooner! I wish I was like Robotics;Notes Aki and had Elephant Mouse syndrome right now…
…Or maybe I’ll hibernate until then. Wake me up in a week, holographic jellyfish mascot!
About Overcooled
A neuroscience graduate, black belt, and all-around nerd. You'll either find me in my lab or curled up in my rilakkuma kigurumi watching anime.
POWUH: 700-799 and Parkouring Fanboy with 776 comments
I’m finding myself pleasantly surprised with Psycho-Pass. I wasn’t a fan of Urobuchi’s previous works, and I was skeptical he could pull this off, but he’s doing the world building very well. The 1st episode gave us a glimpse, and I loved how the 2nd episode expanded on that, both concerning the society and the technology that runs this world. Her apartment at the beginning was beautiful, very reminiscent of Fahrenheit 451.
Urobuchi is definitely wearing his Western media influences on his sleeve. This show makes it obvious that he’s a fan of Equilibrium, which was in turn influenced by novels like 1984, Brave New World, and the aforementioned Fahrenheit 451, and the future crime concept have been compared to Minority Report, though I’m also reminded of Gattaca. It’s nice to see these classic science fiction concepts filter down to anime, and in able hands, it seems. I hope the show continues to explore this dystopian world in depth, because there are a lot of fun avenues it could go down, and it’d be a shame to waste it.
This show definitely looks like it’s up your alley. Given the clumsy use of thermodynamics in Madoka, I’m expecting Psycho-Pass to be heavy on pop-psychology rather than actual scientific psychology, but it’s done well so far. Please be merciless in pointing out anything the show gets wrong!
POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments
Yeah, I felt the Equilibrium vibes as well. Where the council of the city believed they were safeguarding themselves and the people by banning and destroying anything and everything that triggers human emotion after the aftermath of a third world war. And like the city with the enforcers, they used special police called Grammaton Clerics to search and destroy.
POWUH: Meta Team and The Mad Scientist with 5525 comments
I already was a fan (mostly because of Madoka) so I went into it with high expectations. I love that world-building is the primary focus right now, because I’d rather not be confused later on as they spout technobabble at us. It’s a complex system that demands attention as its own subject. I’m glad this show is getting 22 episodes.
Ahhh, okay, I’ve seen some of these things. I saw Gattaca (…as an assignment for my course on Human Genetics, interestingly enough), and read Brave New World (again, for class). I really need to get my hands on more sci-fi, because it’s turning out to be a genre that I enjoy when it’s done well. I had no idea Urobuchi Gen was drawing influences from Western sources.
It turned out to be a perfect fit for both my interests and field of study, haha. So far so good, but if I see anything amiss I’ll be sure to refute it with the best of my knowledge! If I’m picky enough to chide something as goofy as Phi Brain for showing inaccurate brain scans, then Psycho-Pass should undergo the same treatment. :3
POWUH: 700-799 and Parkouring Fanboy with 776 comments
Yeah, Urobuchi has written fan-fiction for Equilibrium, which is why it’s known that he’s a fan of the movie. He let it show with Mami’s Gun-Kata in episode 3 of Madoka. And early in Fate/Zero, Assassin avoids a bunch of detectors to steal something (only to be caught and killed by Gilgamesh almost immediately), which was very reminiscent of Entrapment, a movie in which Catherine Zeta-Jones had to avoid a bunch of lasers in order to steal some jewelry.
Given how Madoka, Fate/Zero, and Equilibrium ended, I’m guessing that a major plot point will be taking down the Psycho-Pass system. One would typically expect that at the end of the series as the climactic arc – like how last year’s Fractale ended – but I’d love it if it took place in the halfway point. The entire 2nd half would shift to the rebuilding efforts, to create a new, just and free society from the ashes of this unjust totalitarian one. The story of rebuilding can be less exciting than that of destroying, but it’s the kind of story that hasn’t been explored much, which is why I’d like to see what Urobuchi could do with it.
POWUH: Meta Team and The Mad Scientist with 5525 comments
Cool! I had no idea! My friend has been trying to get me to watch Equilibrium, so I might actually get to it now. I’ve never heard of Entrapment though.
Taking down the Psycho-Pass system…hmm…that might be cool, although I’m kind of sad since it’s so cool. I guess they could find another way to make things work. To be honest, I have no idea where things are going to go in the future of this show. I’m just going to ride it out and take it in episode by episode.
POWUH: Beginner (20-35) with 33 comments
being female, i was totally ^______^ at the ease of changing clothes, makeup, interior designing… TOTAL WIN! who cares abt the storyline anymore? lol, nanchatte. it has been such an interesting watch so far, and certainly ties in well with our current society. i can definitely see something like psycho-pass in our future. it does remind me of minority report too. this is going to be on my ‘must-watch’ list.
POWUH: Meta Team and The Mad Scientist with 5525 comments
I know, right? Over 1/3 of my room is dedicated to closet space because I have so many clothes…condensing that all into a compact mirror would be so efficient. I was just as excited by the magic clothes as the science aspects :3
POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments
It’s amazing how fast you make these posts, OC. Psycho-Pass is awesome because it has potential to stir up a lot of discussions.
The OP isn’t half bad. I like the visuals, especially with the blood cells. It shows what they are doing in that society directs affects the human body. Also, it shows that Akane may be in for a personality change.
I swear, the more I watch futuristic animes, the more jealous I become. It was bad enough with neural devices like in Accel World and SAO but now you’re telling me there’s tech sophisticated enough to literally redesign your home and clothes at will?! Life’s just not fair!!!
Either I’m paranoid or my yuri goggles are on too tight or maybe both are the cases because something was off. As Akane was just in front of that door to the Comprehensive Analysis Laboratory where she met Shion, there was that black haired Enforcer girl straightening her tie as if she was in a rush to get herself dressed again because she was hiding something. Also, there was Shion putting her stockings back on and fixing her hair as Akane was walking in. I’m gonna go a whim and say there was some yuri action going on behind closed doors.
It’s scary how serious Sibyl takes these Psycho-Pass readings. Shuusei Kagari getting red flagged at five years old? That’s ridiculous!! The guy was only a kid back then and kids are mostly unpredictable and impulsive. The city shows small but apparent signs of dictatorship by determining what a person is suited to do before they reach a certain age to decide for themselves. What would be the standards one would have to meet if they wanted to a scientist or an astronaut or another important job?
POWUH: Meta Team and Spammy Tamer with 7115 comments
And like in my long comment (that hopefully got saved from Spammy, I’ll defend the Sibyl system in the case of Kagari. There are a few people in the world now who are irretrievably broken at the age of 5. Children who torture and kill animals, children who bully other kids, children who engage in petty crimes. Not all of the kids who do these things are irredeemable, but some percentage of them are. It is definitely hard for us to think about, because people are constantly told at such ages “You can be what you want to be”, but that is objectively not the case. There are going to be some kids that can’t be pulled back, as they have already gone over the brink. Who knows why, but it happens now, we just don’t really hear about it, because kids that age are relatively powerless. They can’t really *do* anything that would have such consequences that we’d hear about it. But they grow up to be more powerful, and resourceful. And then, sometimes, we find out about how messed up they are.
POWUH: Meta Team and The Mad Scientist with 5525 comments
@BlackBriar: I’m glad it was relatively fast! I try to stay on schedule but..you know…life.
Even cooler would be if the OP had brain scans! It would make sense, right? Anyways, I like the OP dark. It fits perfectly with the theme of the show.
You’re not the only one who thought some hot girl on girl action was going down. That was just plain suspicious. I doubt this will be the last time either.
@Highway: Mmm…well I don’t think it’s accurate to say “everyone can be saved,” I think that it’s possible to treat MOST cases seen from the age of 5. Unless this is some sort of brain lesion thing or illness he was born with, it should be treatable.
But yes, there are cases where young children are so dysfunctional that they simply cannot function in normal life. However, they’re still growing and changing, and I think it’s beyond the scope of a Psycho-Pass rating to predict how much the child could react to therapy and/or medication. From what I can tell, it only predicts the current severity of mental instability…and from there they just wait until a certain cutoff number is reached to say they’re impossible to save. However their brains are still growing. Neurons are still forming new connections and being pruned. Outlooks on life are just being formed. Nothing is set in stone yet. To say that a kid is impossible to treat is jumping the gun a bit. I can see how an adult could be untreatable but a kid is even less likely. Maybe if I knew what was wrong with him exactly I’d be less surprised. It seems like his latent criminal number is just high :/
Unless the system really can say that all possible paths for development will never lead to positive benefits, then I’d say it’s a bit extreme. Especially since it tagged that raped woman as lethal and yet she was just fine after some treatment. I really wouldn’t trust the Sibyl system that much. It then becomes an issue of how much you treat the Sibyl system as the undeniable truth or just a rough guideline to work from. :/
POWUH: Meta Team and Spammy Tamer with 7115 comments
I really like this world, even if I am pessimistic about the use of the Sybil system to analyze ‘pre-crime’. And it will sound weird because I was so pessimistic about it last week, but this week I’m going to defend it a bit.
The idea of selecting professions and career paths based on aptitude and attitude is one that is attractive. Because as much as I didn’t think so 15 years ago, I now understand that there are people who can do a particular job, and there are people who can’t do that same job. Sometimes it’s because they don’t have the analytical skills, sometimes it’s because they don’t have the interpersonal skills, sometimes it’s because they don’t have an acceptable attitude towards the job. This is where I think the Sybil system has great promise. Helping to guide someone to a career they will be good at, that they would flourish in, that’s something that is an excellent goal. If the system can do that with a high degree of confidence, that’s a huge plus in its favor. Is there a loss of “free will” (a concept that can be endlessly debated anyway)? Maybe. But if you had guidance about what things you’d enjoy doing most, and they turned out to be true, it’s kind of hard to argue with that.
When Akane’s friends were griping about their work, it really seemed to me to be the griping that people do when they like their job. Humans love to play “I’ve got it worse than you.” We’re very bad at admitting we are happy, especially to other people, because we don’t want to be seen as bragging. They seemed like generally normal people, and I’d imagine that the thing that’s different with Akane is that there is a ceiling. So while most people have different scores, and might meet a cutoff threshold in multiple areas, so they have a choice, but there is some difference between their aptitudes for different things, I took it to mean that Akane basically maxed out all 13, not that she met the floor, but that she hit the ceiling. Therefore, she really didn’t get much guidance from those test results. What she took her guidance from was that nobody else even met the floor for the job she took. And even if it’s tough, it needs to be remembered that this was a job that it was felt she could do.
I’m so happy to see the reinforcement of her actions and her worldview by Kougami, as well. I think that Masaoka looks at her more bemusedly, but I don’t think he opposes her. He sees her struggling, and is honestly trying to help her, by giving her advice to just let things go, and do the job that he’s used to the Inspector doing. I truly hope this show doesn’t turn into “Break the Cutie”, or “the future sucks, everyone sucks, and you’re lame and naive if you want to bother trying to change it.” Yes, there’s a dark side to this world, but there’s also a bit of a beneficial side. Hopefully the show will focus more on that.
POWUH: Meta Team and The Mad Scientist with 5525 comments
I think it’s normal to be ambivalent and have both negative and positive feelings about the Sibyl (or Sybil?) system. It has so many possibilities for good things and horrible, horrible things as well :B
I don’t know if I’d like writing an aptitude test, personally, but it doesn’t sound too bad! I mean, it guides you towards a job you’ll probably be good at, which should benefit you as much as it does society. It also eliminates the feelings of confusion most people have as they try to choose their future profession (eg. me right now deciding what to do after I graduate TT_TT ). In most cases, what people are good at usually overlaps with what they like. Not all the time – but usually. I may have read a bit too much into the conversation between Tsunemori and her friends. They weren’t genuinely unhappy with their placements – they were just complaining like everyone does.
Tsunemori could have gone into anything because of her high scores, basically. The test basically did nothing to narrow her options, so she narrowed them for herself by choosing the most unique one out of the bunch. The one that made her special. A pretty noble choice! I’d just go for the coolest/highest paying one lol
So far so good. As long as they don’t try to redefine her ethical decisions as being “naive” then it should be fine. I wouldn’t like that either :/ It’s no fun if everyone is gloomy and never questions anything.
POWUH: Meta Team and Megane-chan with 3214 comments
…To tell you the truth, I saw the jellyfish mascot and immediately thought Kuragehime. Even though it’s pretty much the polar opposite of Psycho-Pass.
POWUH: Meta Team and Ringleader Extraordinaire~ with 6433 comments
You are not the only one. Interestingly, Tsukimi was voiced by HanaKana as well. :3
POWUH: Meta Team and Megane-chan with 3214 comments
Oh yeah she did too.
I guess Kuragehime also kind of delved into societal pressures as well. …Though on a completely different level. Why am I comparing these anime.
POWUH: Meta Resident and Werewolf Chaser with 1270 comments
I want tht KanaHana voiced jellyfish AI <3
I have a fascination with jellyfish too but totally not to the level of Kuragehime lead lol.
Btw haven't saw the show but I know some stuff abt it so answer me, wht happen to tht jellyfish XD
POWUH: Meta Team and The Mad Scientist with 5525 comments
…I never liked Kuragehime but I’m glad you guys got a cute, accidental (I think) reference. :>
POWUH: Metanorn Lover with 192 comments
I loved the quick and efficient world-building in this episode. The way that the characters just rattle off these futuristic concepts was also delightful to watch.
The quick make up between Shinya and Akane wasn’t as good imo. The tough loner image we’ve seen just disintegrates in the span of one episode! Plus, I wouldn’t be so forgiving of a person who just knocked me out of commission for a day. Still, I find your views quite intriguing. Perhaps I should give them some leeway…
POWUH: Meta Team and Spammy Tamer with 7115 comments
I don’t quite agree. I found that Shinya’s epiphany was plausible, especially in tv-land, where things necessarily take less time than in the real world. I think it’s important to remember that like Kagari, Shinya’s life has probably been full of being told that he’s a criminal, that he’s no good, that the only thing he is good for is being, as Masaoka repeatedly says, a “hunting dog” taking out whatever his masters point him towards. And maybe being out of commission for a day, as Akane (or maybe it was Shinya himself) notes, gave him some time to think about it and reflect.
And I know this somewhat contradicts my comment above about Kagari being found to be irredeemable at such a young age, but I think it’s still consistent. Who knows what the differences between Shinya and Kagari are? We really don’t know what the reasons each was condemned are.
POWUH: Meta Team and The Mad Scientist with 5525 comments
I love it too. They don’t dumb it down and say “wellll now kiddies, this is how THIS works…” either. It just naturally comes up in a conversation, and they elaborate a bit as needed. It’s great.
Do you mean my views about the Shinya and Akane scene? Well, if you didn’t like it you didn’t like it lol. As for me, I’m with Highway in that I liked the scene and didn’t find it odd at all. We don’t see a lot of Shinya to begin with, so it’s not like it’s a huge change of character to see him agree with her. It’s part of his job to get knocked out, so I doubt he takes it personal anymore. I’m sure he’s been shot for worse reasons by some jerks who just didn’t like his attitude :/ It’s easy to forgive someone as nice as Akane when you’ve been treated as a “hunting dog” by everyone else.
POWUH: 1000-1099 and Pirate King with 1048 comments
Does Kagari mention anything about his family, or just that he was flagged?
If someone at the age of 5 gets flagged, how can the kid be at fault? How can you just flag the kid w/o looking at the parents and possibly flagging them? If I saw a 5 year old flagged, than I’d study the family hard and have to make a call on whether the guardians of the child should be allowed to continue raising the child or if they need to be sent to parenting classes. The kid shouldn’t go w/o notice (Sibyl did flag the kid after all), but they shouldn’t be judged so harshly at a young age by a computer.
And that’s one of what might be dozens of issues I’d have with Sibyl. Seems like once it finds one thing wrong with you, you have a hard time shaking it even if you can. Quite honestly, I hope something like Sibyl never becomes reality. And on the subject of how Hue color is a subject of conversation, I don’t know if I’d feel human living in that city. The casual “good morning, how are you?” greeting can get more expanded upon than it needs to be.
That previous thought got me to thinking… how did Sibyl get approved? The setting of a crime-filled city is one that makes it seem like Sibyl was desperately needed, but I just imagine there being so much work needed with the programming, jobs that would be affected by it. Is there a loss of belief in the legal & prison systems that the city just went, “yeah, boot up Sibyl.” We just got through with the U.S. Presidential Debates and Sibyl would be an issue that’d be really tough to tackle. That’s a really boring anime to make, but just the idea that Sibyl is actually a thing that has reached the point of being used in a city is really something.
POWUH: Meta Team and Spammy Tamer with 7115 comments
There doesn’t have to be a ‘fault’ for Kagari being the way he is. Brain chemistry is a funky thing, moods and reactions are individualized, there are all sorts of ways he could end up like he is. It’s even possible to consider him ‘redeemed’ a bit, since he was evaluated at such an early age (and *continues* to be evaluated) to be likely to commit crimes, yet he has become, by any stretch of the definition, a contributing member of society. Maybe he didn’t even have parents around. And one would presume that his parents are also beholden to the PsychoPass system, so they are regularly evaluated as well.
I can see plenty of plausible pathways for a system like Sibyl to be implemented. If you show it works, and is reliable, then whoever develops it could presumably sell it. Is it much of a stretch to see it implemented at, say, airports, courthouses, and government buildings instead of the current security theater of metal detectors and idiot security guards (I’m not a fan of TSA or government security)? Or perhaps private building owners could install scanners at doors like we see in the show. Wouldn’t a shopping center have a vested interest in screening customers who would likely commit a crime? What rights are violated? I’m a huge believer in natural rights (mostly negative rights, I am adamantly opposed to positive rights), yet I find it difficult to construct a scenario where the use of such a system by a private property owner on their property violates what I consider to be the rights of people in general. And if every private property owner is using it, and alerting the police when someone whose hue check comes up bad, would that not be a de facto ‘government’ system? Or maybe it reaches a critical tipping point in implementation, and the government then mandates it everywhere, or implements roving scans, or something like that.
Please give a check on these scenarios and see what you think sounds implausible. I’m mostly throwing things out there that sound possible to me.
POWUH: Meta Team and The Mad Scientist with 5525 comments
We get so little info about Kagari that it’s really hard to tell why he was flagged. Parental abuse? Inherited mental disorder? Something he developed over time or due to something traumatic? Whatever it was, I still think just saying he’s impossible to treat is dodging the issue since the kid’s only 5. Almost nothing is set in stone by that age. Unless he had permanent brain damage or something…
I think the Sibyl system is a great idea in theory, and the possible uses are endless. I don’t know if actually introducing it into society would be beneficial since it can be abused so easily though. I wouldn’t want my moods to be so transparent. My guess is they started using it sparingly, and then kept expanding the boundaries and possible uses until the entire culture revolved around it. I wonder if it was originally intended to be used on criminals or if the creator had another purpose in mind.
As for using the Sibyl system in other nifty ways, these all sound like things that could work, but the mall/store thing might be a little bit sketchy. Getting turned away from a store because they “might” steal could be seen as discrimination, especially since shoplifting is such a petty crime and probably needs a very low criminal coefficient.
POWUH: Meta Team and Spammy Tamer with 7115 comments
I’ll point out that I have absolutely no problem with allowing private actors and property owners to discriminate against whoever or whatever they want. This does not mean they are immune from ridicule, boycott, societal pressure, or other consequences of their decision, just that they should not be barred from making that decision by others. I honestly think that anti-discrimination laws for private owners are ultimately wrong and are not power that the government should have, since they necessarily hold some people’s desires above other people’s. I do think the government should be barred from any discrimination in itself, however.
And I disagree: Even shoplifting is a high hurdle for someone to clear, in a society such as you’d find in most western lands (not saying anything due to lack of experience about other cultures). Very few people would do it, even given the opportunity.
POWUH: Meta Resident with 1557 comments
omg so many wall-of-text posts. I can guarantee my post is 99% less enlightening and insightful!
The only thing I carried away from watching this episode was – if your clothes are digitized, does that mean when you get hit by a powerful EMP… are you now nekkid? Tune in for more deep thoughts by akagami.
POWUH: Meta Resident and Werewolf Chaser with 1270 comments
Nah. It seems like their clothes have hologram stuff in it so if you turn the hologram off its just look like a normal working clothes.
POWUH: Meta Team and Spammy Tamer with 7115 comments
I had thought of that, but it really seems to me to be difficult to do given occlusion. Unless we are positing that the physical clothes can make themselves transparent, or that the clothes would replicate skin, then it would seem to require that there are just minimal emitters to project the clothes using holographic means.
If we’re making up stuff, I think it’s more likely to be something like nanomachines that reconfigure positions.
POWUH: Meta Team and The Mad Scientist with 5525 comments
SEE AKAGAMI? Perfectly valid, deep discussion about the technology behind magic clothes. You brought up a very insightful topic (besides, don’t forget I like fangirling over cute clothes too~)
I have no clue about this kind of thing (especially for those mascot suits that change your entire body). I’m going to say nanomachines sounds legit, although that may be because one of the only sci-fi books I read was about nanomachines.
POWUH: Meta Team and Spammy Tamer with 7115 comments
Now, the big avatars that they were wearing, those seem to be more holographic, especially the heads. You can see inside Masaoka’s when he’s checking the screen. I think they’re mostly just to project a blandly happy face to some definitely tense people. You also don’t necessarily know when they’re people or drones. But I think people are generally smart enough to figure it out.
POWUH: Meta Resident and Werewolf Chaser with 1270 comments
Just curious, is the SF book you read is Micro??
Btw, another swallowed comment.
POWUH: Meta Team and Spammy Tamer with 7115 comments
I think The Diamond Age by Neil Stephenson was mentioned before.
POWUH: Meta Team and The Mad Scientist with 5525 comments
Comment saved.
Highway has a good memory ._. Yes, it was The Diamond Age!
POWUH: Meta Resident with 1557 comments
Then there are two lines of thought:
1) It’s a hologram and you’re feeling really breezy all around (and how do you stay warm?!?)
2) It’s some silicon chip technology and you’re getting a serious case of silicon burn.
In either case both aren’t really practical. Unless the device truly teleports your wardrobe onto you. Or we have something like Pekke but it isn’t sentient.
POWUH: 800-899 and Flying Sage with 856 comments
Interesting thoughts about your mental state being apparent to your social acquaintances. A lot of time people try to hide what they are feeling in a scial context, and it seems the Psycho-Pass technology would make that impossible. Everyone would forever be “wearing their heart on their sleeve”, as the saying goes. I think this would be terrible. The problem with the police is one thing, but if the technology is that wide-spread you can bet that marketers/ salespeople would be attempting to use it for their own ends. Even if you trusted your friends with the information, it means there is no such thing as privacy.
POWUH: Meta Team and The Mad Scientist with 5525 comments
Hiding emotions is so common to our society that it’d be incredibly hard to adjust. I was surprised that the mood scanning crossed over from the police world into normal life. If everyone knows your business, you can easily be exploited :/ At least no one can see your mood unless you either tell them or they look it up, so I don’t think salespeople would know just by looking at someone. I was under the impression that Tsunemori just told her friends what her Hue Check colour was (since this is a common conversation topic, apparently), not that they already knew.
POWUH: 600-699 and Wingman with 655 comments
i love the jellyfish thing! it is adorable!
this series brings me high hopes, but i hope the love/bl notion is cut down a little bit, since i can see it coming 😛
POWUH: Meta Team and The Mad Scientist with 5525 comments
What, you see BL? Where? Your goggles must be set to high…
POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments
Huh, BL? That’s strange. Instead, I detected possible yuri in this episode with Shion.
POWUH: Meta Team and Spammy Tamer with 7115 comments
Possible? They did everything but have Akane walk in on them.
POWUH: Meta Resident and Werewolf Chaser with 1270 comments
Btw a interesting tidbit frm RC Kinny Riddle:
POWUH: Meta Team and The Mad Scientist with 5525 comments
That’s not to say that she won’t sign a contract later on ／人◕ ‿‿ ◕人＼